Process of saturating oils.



n19 sTATEsmATENT oFFIoE.

manna manna-r,- mzcu' 'nn, on-Nnwisronx; m :Assmnon mounts marmms comsimmer mw'rsnumn, rnumn'ifnvnms, A conrone'rlon or waxes.

' York mehl'ls' in" of Saturatihgf Q whi'oh follow-1n isa'specification! i 'ni n marin til rooarbons of ture *wh in on nei hborFyor 50911,

ing ww lumin f tinued m desired and i-literi'ia'l "ehagnge, witheoms'pondin im r iro mtm is'aecemplished an as more fu 1 hez'iinhydroegn'bons,

whi e h are Bodies-Consisting f y en;

-hydroeanbons re resumed toowe thoirigre l "active natu e to 'ilinkoge 1or" tifiip'le link be; tot-the presence- "a hr by-two-or'more bonds Thestable the unsaturated are relatively ."un's' Jule. llilie odor of Qcarbons isia'lso mark y moreolfensive than e d. 9 M eI in e nd l intedydrocarlioi s are relatirely ales grade kerosenefwlieifeinkerosene is warii' ed with minimum chloi id at a relatii ely low" temperaturejor atime, the tempera-tussle 15 mg" bel WtHatiif-Whih aluininurhhlorid Jfiolent'hreakingzddvinscaf sirens permit isuch a uniin'iim I aoid'yetczythere is-a resulting loss of oil..

d stabilizing, aotiomha temper a material capableof- 'exercisingsundryen- "ergetio reactions with- "the hydrocarbons which compose petroleumoil, and oi moditying their character in many ways."jheatnigahighboiling' petroleum oil, such as "lubricating oil: a gasoil or solar oil, kero I e'r" set 'j forth and as ela'imed;

Petroleum oilsand-produotsarecomposed main lj' or" xlflusivelfhf vario shydroeari- .4 3O bons of-difierent boiling points; while theseunsaturated hydro- 1' ianocnssgonswunume: cits.

' mama Aug. 27, 1918.

i? the esti ate mam-carbons; Gorrespoifding to thisohenii'oal'difierenoe Toe= tween the 4 two classes is a marketdifi'erenoe fin values. In all oommercial'petroleum pm I I I I '.'jdujzts 'thoselwhioh contain any substantial t ii'evt i n n w Pf n I a"lower'grade than those which 'are free, or

amount of uhs'atu rhted hydrocarbons are of relatively free, of'suehunsaturated hydrocarbons. The-unsaturated hydrocarbons 00- curring 1nkerosene are of course themselves oil's truisgeneral characterofkerosene and, exoept' as re%ardsstabi'lit y, they do not differniateri'a'l fromthe saturated hydrocarare" hardly to regarded. aslmpm'itiesi theynre simply oils of lessdesi'rable charseneyetcwith'alul'ninum chlorid, the latter,

under proper conditions, will convert the {whole of such high boilingoil into lower boiling oils of the nature of gasolene, with perhaps 10or 15 per rent. loss as gas and coke. All the distillation products ofsuch Ian notion will be found to be of; saturated nnt'ure' whateverwas-the-nature, in this re-- spect; of the original' high boiling oiltreated; hy distilling a highly unsaturated 'gas =o1'l, 1t may beconverted praeticallv I .wholly'into gasolene and this gasolene wi I 1all beef-saturated nature.

I have found that by operating at a sufli-,

f-(lielltly low temperature, instead of workin' at the'boilintemperature just described,

can whollyo yiate the stated converting ac- I #:tion whil'estillretainingithe saturating acrtionaand that this may be utilized inbettercarbons and warm .it (as distinguished from jng' thequalityvofkerosene'fwithoutthe loss of oil 'ineidental to other-methods of purl-;fying' kerosene.v Inotl'ierwords, I can take a kerosene oil containingunsaturated hydro aluminumehlorid and produoea saturation.

ofthe unsaturated constituentswithout r0-.

duction of lower boiling oils. In this 210' ion the unsaturated oils aresimply t ansformed be found satisfactory.

In .a practical embodiment of my process of treating kerosene orilluminating oil to imprm'e its color and stability, as well as itsbiilrning qualities, I may take a low grade lwresene containingunsaturated hydroeerlions or oils and. warm it to about i5 3 l. with itsuitable amount of anhydrous ulumimun chlorid, say per cent. The oil innet be di 1 since any moisture deteriorates or destrov the with-it ofthe aluminum (l'ilOIl i reshly distilled illuminating oils sufinncntlydry. )lder oils are best dried with aeurrent of air. The aluminumehlorid does not dissolve to any great extent in the cold oil althoughits solubility increases on Warming to the temperature stated; and in.order to Inuinta-iii efiicient Contact between the oil and aluminumchlorid, stirring or agitation is resorted. to. Different oils requiresomewhat difl erent temper tures and times of action; but as a rulearound 150' F. for four to six hours will The time element depends largly upon. the amount of improvement which may be desired (5. 6., of tnnsi ormutiiim of unsaturated groups presout) in the grade of oil. Theprogress of the action may be followed by removing portions of oil fromtime to time, cooling,

I filtering through. paper and testing with iodin solution. Unsaturatedhydrocarbons have the power of absorbing iodin and the progressivediminution in the amount of iodin" absorbed indicates the progressivediminution in the proportion ofunsaturated eoinponents present in theoil. The opera.-

tion may be arrested when the iodin test shows at desired amount ofimprovement. W'ith any given 011 1t is of course not necessary to testevery batch treated. The best operating temperature for any given oil"be adjudged in much the'saine way. It is desirable to work at higha'temperatime for the sake of specdliiis possible but without anymaterial pro':ucti0n of low hoiling oils {that is, gasole and the like)usindieeted by observing; 1c flash point. As stated, in the (useo't'fillummatmg OllS,

lubricating oils and the like, it is highly undesirable to lower theflash point.

When the operation has been :urricd as far as may he desired, as forinstance to the point where the iodin number ceases to diminish rapidly,warming and stirring may be interrupted and the mass allowed to cool.The aluminum chlorid then for the most part separates out as a heavysludge. The sludge may be removed and used to treat successive newbatches of oil. Its activity steadily din'iinishes' with reuse and. itis finally converted into a. granular innetive coky mess. From this itmay be recovered for reuse by appropriate methods.

The oil from which the chlorid sludge has separated still carries alittle aluminum chlorid in suspension. From this it n'nty be freed byagitating with a little sulfuric acid or by filtration through fuller-searth; or both. ()I' the oil may be subjected to a current of steam.

The oil treated asthus described dillers from the original oil in beingcolorless or of a less color; and in being permanent on keeping. It doesnot tend to absorb; oxygen from the air; and its burning qudlities areimproved.

In my application Serial No. 224038, filed March 22, 1918, filed as acontinuation of application Serial No. 7 92615. filed September 30,1913, I haye described and claimed the process of treating and improvingpetroleum hydroc arbons generally and lubricating oils speizifically,such process involving the use of aluminum chlorid. The presentapplication is directedto a process of treatlug-end improving kerosene.

What I claim 132- 1. The process of decolorizing and improving kerosene,which comprises warming such kerosene with aluminum chlorid at atemperature around 150" F.

2. The process of stabilizing, decolorizing and deodorizing illuminatingoils containing unsaturated oils, which comprises warming such an oilwith anhydrous'aluminum chlorid at a temperature sufiicient totransform,

In testimony whereof, I a-ffi'x my signature. 1

ALMER MQDUFFIE McAFEE.

